What's New at KidsPeace

News and Notes from KidsPeace

On August 21 and 22, KidsPeace in Orefield, PA, hosted a wonderful community event - the 13th Annual KidsPeace Soccer Invitational. Some 87 teams participated and played great, competitive soccer. Congratulations to the winning teams, which included:

Girls - PASC Premier and WVSC for Under 10; PASC Rockets and WVSC 99 Navy for Under 11, WVSC for Under 12, WVSC 97 Girls and GCVSA Cosmos for Under 13; Palisades for Under 14; Danubia for Under 14/15; and Bethlehem Soccer Club Under 14 for the Sportsmanship Award.

Boys -- PASC Premier and WVSC 01 Boys for Under 9; Triboro for Under 10; WL United and WVSC 99 Boys for Under 12; Southern Lehigh for Under 13; Muhlenberg and Pottsgrove for Under 14; MUSC Strikers for Under 15; and FC Freedom Under 12 for the Sportsmanship Award.

The real winners were the members of TeenCentral.Net, the anonymous, free website offered by KidsPeace to teens around the world where they can log on and work out their problems and concerns with advice from Master's and PhD level counselors. The site also gives teen members a safe place to add comments to other teens' posts, which do not go live until they are checked by counselors, learn about celebrities who may have experienced similar issues while growing up, read news that is relevant to them and visit pages that provide honest information about weight disorders, domestic abuse and smoking.

KidsPeace would like to thank Verizon for sponsoring the tournament, as well as the celebrities from Channel 69 News, B104 and WLEV 100.7 radio stations. We would also like to thank Susan Corbett, wife of the candidate for Attorney General Tom Corbett, for attending the tournament and touring KidsPeace facilities. The Corbetts are big fans of TeenCentral.Net, and Mr. Corbett is focusing on Internet safety for kids, which TeenCentral.Net certainly represents.

The tournament ran very smoothly and more than 4,000 people visited our campus that weekend and enjoyed the beauty of our facilities and the feeling of community that prevailed during the games. KidsPeace would like to thank all of the associate volunteers who helped with setup, helping visitors and cleanup after the games. We would also like to thank the many kids from our programs who did an amazing job helping visitors and participating in all aspects of the weekend.

KidsPeace received very positive feedback from coaches and attendees on the way the tournament was run and how well they were treated by everyone from KidsPeace. Next year's tournament will be held on August 20-21, and we hope to attract an even larger turnout for our 14th Invitational.